Miami officer shoots, kills motorist during Overtown traffic stop

MIAMI — A Miami police officer opened fire on a motorist Monday during a midday traffic stop on an Overtown street, killing the man.

It is not known why the officer opened fire or why he made the traffic stop.

Police gave out little information.

The case is under investigation, said Detective Willie Moreno. He added that "details are scarce, due to preliminary stages of the investigation."

This much is known:

Two officers in a squad car pulled over the motorist in the 1600 block of Northwest Third Avenue around 11:30 a.m., Moreno said.

WFOR-Ch. 4 identified the man as Decarlos Moore, 36, of Miami.

Moore, who has a prison record, got out of the car and was shot.

A family member said he was shot in the head. Police did not name the officer who fired his weapon.

Witnesses who heard the shooting say Moore was sprawled, bleeding, on the rain-slicked pavement. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

"He was still breathing," said Antwone McKnight, 34. "He lost a lot of blood waiting for the ambulance to come."

The call came into Miami Fire-Rescue at 11:36 a.m. A unit was dispatched at 11:37 and arrived at the scene at 11:40 a.m., said Ignatius Carroll, fire-rescue spokesman. The ambulance arrived at Jackson at 11:50 a.m., Carroll said.

Witnesses at the nearby 3rd Ave. Supermarket & Restaurant came out when they heard the shooting.

McKnight said he saw the officer clutch his head with both hands and pace back and forth.

Heard gunshot

Mohammed Dames, 36, owner of 3rd Ave. Supermarket & Restaurant, said he heard a single gunshot and ran outside.

He saw Moore on the sidewalk, blood coming from his mouth. Dames started screaming for help.

"It looked like a faucet coming out of his mouth," Dames said. "I've never seen crap like that."

His store was shut down for four hours because the shooting took place a few feet from his door.

Dames said Moore was a regular at the store. He came by about two times a week and ordered a breakfast sandwich and sometimes cigarettes.

Katrina Moore, Moore's sister, said the bullet entered and exited her brother's head.

"He was a good person," she said. "He loved life."

District 5 Commissioner Richard P. Dunn was at the store talking to people about the shooting.

"We've got to put something in place to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said. "It's unfortunate, not good, not good for our city."

By midafternoon, a tow truck arrived to take away the car, a white 2002 Honda Accord registered to Ofelyah Jackson, of Miami.

It had a white and purple garland of silk flowers dangling from the rearview mirror.

Moore served two prison terms — 14 years for a 1989 second-degree murder charge and 10 months for sale and trafficking in cocaine. He got out of prison in November 2007.